As soon as the postponement of the start of the trial was announced on Monday morning, it was clear that Fox News’ lawyers were going all out. On Tuesday, it was announced that an agreement had been reached with Dominion Voting Systems.
Best Storyline for Fox News
As the network has done many times in the past, it managed to get out of trouble and avoid the worst by taking out a tidy sum of money from its pockets. It is sad.
That Fox News can present itself as a news network is a disgrace and I wanted to see all the hypocrisy and lack of ethics of the big stars of the network publicly exposed. It won’t happen, at least not for this story.
I do not join the chorus of those who have been singing since yesterday the refrain that the sum of 787 million constitutes in itself a severe sanction and an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
This agreement disappoints me for three main reasons. First, the network does not have to apologize on the air, nor does it have to ask its stars to do so. At most, it was recognized that the wrong things had been said. No pitiful return in front of the viewers, it will be business as usual.
A trial would have unpacked all the ‘intricacies’ of the operations in addition to forcing the stars to appear and explain why they acknowledged among themselves that Trump’s allegations were rubbish before saying otherwise once the microphones were open. .
Second source of disappointment for me, the amount of the agreement. Do you find me intransigent? True, the $787 million sum is significant, but have you taken a look at Fox News’ profits lately? They are around 14 billion for 2022 alone. Dominion Voting Systems demanded 1.6 billion. I wouldn’t say we’re talking loose change, but…
Last reason for dissatisfaction? Dominion’s case seemed to me to be strong enough to win the case. As I expressed in my text on Monday, a guilty verdict would have helped to clarify the limits of the First Amendment and the freedom of the press. Lying will therefore continue to pay off.
It’s not over for Fox News
If Fox has just won an important battle, it would be wrong to open the champagne right away. His lawyers are likely to return to court fairly quickly, handicapped by the revelations of the Dominion file.
At least two other files are still to be monitored. In the first, the company Smartmatic (voting machines) undertakes to resume the fight, promising to complete the job.
There will also be this lawsuit brought by Abby Grossberg who claims that network lawyers pressured her to lie under oath, hoping to blame her for the company’s excesses. Will we still pay? Is the price of lying high enough? Obviously not.